Monday, January 31, 2011

Another hiccup

{A lot of you have been saying that you can't see pictures on this blog lately... I just resized a bunch and also removed a slideshow that I had on the sidebar that seemed to be slowing things down... will you let me know if it's still a problem?}

It's a good thing that hubs and I had our birth class and hospital tour last weekend, so that we knew just where to go when we had to show up at Labor and Delivery last night. Yup, ugh, that's right. Four hours at the hospital, and thank God we didn't make it past the triage stage, but it was still zero fun. So let me back up. I'd been having a few (what I thought were) Braxton Hicks contractions a day, starting about a month ago (week 28ish). For me it was painless, only slightly annoying, tightening of my whole stomach. Everything would get rock hard for maybe a minute, maybe less, and then back to normal. Dr. Google helpfully let me know that this was normal, and not to worry unless I starting having more than four to five an hour.

I woke up on Sunday morning with a slightly more than "just annoying" Braxton Hicks contraction, but tried to ignore it and go back to sleep. When I woke up and got showered, I was noticing that they seemed to be coming pretty often. I timed them at one point around noon, and they were running about five minutes apart for awhile, and then going away, but still really not causing me any pain at all. All day long I was semi-aware that they were coming and going quite a bit. So finally around five o'clock I decided to call my midwife. I really thought that she was going to tell me to lay down (although I had tried that already), drink some water (even though I had been chugging it all day), and to just report for my non-stress test as scheduled at eight am the following morning. Nope. She asked me how far I was from the hospital, and said she would meet me there.

Labor and Delivery seemed pretty quiet, and we were put in a room in the triage area right away. One of the first things the nurse asked me was how much water had I had to drink that day. I proudly held up my one liter evian bottle and said I was on number three. She said I should be on number FIVE. Seriously? That is 169 ounces. That is TWENTY-ONE normal eight ounce glasses. She hooked me up to the monitor (one for baby's heart rate and one for my contractions) and smugly said she'd be watching from the nursing station for my contractions to go away as I guzzled my water. One hour, two more liters of water, and twelve trips to the bathroom (dragging the monitor wires with me) later, and the contractions were still going strong, showing up as regular little hills on the monitor printout. As much as my well-hydrated self was happy to prove smug-nurse wrong, I was pretty worried. Baby O' was a rockstar the whole time thankfully. His heart rate was never a concern, and he was throwing quite the party, happily bouncing around to reassure his scared momma that everything was cool.

My midwife came in to run some tests and make sure that my contractions weren't amounting to anything getting started in the labor department. One test that was pretty fascinating to me was the fetal fibronectin test. If the test comes back negative, it means that you have a 95% chance of your baby staying put for the next ten days. If it comes back positive, it means nothing except you win a whole bunch more tests. So she tested, and we waited. And waited.

What did people do in hospitals before smartphones?

It took about an hour, but the good news was worth waiting for. No signs of labor or infection, and a negative fetal fibronectin test. Since the contractions were still coming, I was given a shot of terbutaline to relax everything. It worked, but made me feel like crap in the meantime. About an hour later we were discharged and told to really try to take it easy, and to watch out for any signs of labor or contractions that were getting more intense.

Today's been better, and I've noticed a bit less of the tightening feeling, although it's still there. Any good vibes, prayers, or wishes that Baby O' stay put for at LEAST another month would be greatly appreciated. It's cold out here, kiddo, and everyone would be a whole lot happier if you cooked a little more!

30 comments:

Oh my lordie, that sounds a bit terrifying, but I'm so glad you're A-Okay and Baby O' is still a warm little bun in the oven! Thinking lots of warm and gestative (word? no?) thoughts for you and the little guy!

On a different note (b/c I'm sure you don't have better things to do than bend to my blogging whims), I would love to hear your thoughts on the hospital birthing class... I noticed on Twitter you weren't quite a... um, fan? I think we have similar thoughts on hospitals and the birthing process so I'd be very interested to hear your comments!

Oh dear Miss EMO... Just think of the great abs you are going to have after all this non-voluntary tightening... I am not sure if it even works like that but... Your husband looks skinny, are you feeding him? Just bc you can't eat cookies doesn't mean he can't! How is he feeling about his ski trip now... hehe So, glad you are ok, geeezzz! I am sure you are giving your poor mother a heart attack!

Oh man, glad everythi is ok! I actually got sent to L&D about 3 weeks before I actually delivered (so 5 weeks before my due date; I delivered at 38 weeks) because my blood pressure was sky high... it was scary but everything turned out ok. Good luck!!!

dude that is not cool. Hang in there, TAKE IT EASY and try not to freak too much. Those BH contractions can be a real biyatch sometimes for sure. But a trip to L&D has to be really scary. Stay put baby!!!

O' Baby! I hope everything goes well for the next month! I'm also curious to hear about your birthing class. From everything else I've heard about them it's not something I'd put high on my list. Thoughts?

Emmy, can't belive this little guy. He is quite the man - wants so much attention even in the oven. I am so glad all turned out ok. I am sitting here hoping for the best and at least another month of good baking. We are with you, loving you and thinking of you. KISS

Cook, Baby, cook! I've been a longtime reader and HAD to comment for Baby O' today. Perhaps he's just waaaaay too excited to hang out in the snow. Baby O', the world is so much nicer in the spring time! :o)

So glad to hear everything is ok!! Keep that little Baby O' in the oven! I'd also like to hear how your birthing class went- Hubby G and I had our first class just the other day and we thought it was pretty good!

I've been thinking of you and Baby O' a lot lately as our due dates are approaching- I'll be sending lots of positive thoughts your way!!

Good luck! Ever since a coworker of mine had a super premature baby (who is absolutely fine now) my fi is TERRIFIED that when it comes time for us to have kids we'll have a similar experience. I think his heart would explode if I went through what you went through!